Impact indicator

ABSTRACT

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a device and technique for impact detection and indication is disclosed. The impact indicator includes a housing; a mass member located within the housing where the housing is configured to enable movement of the mass member from a first position to a second position within the housing in response to receipt by the housing of an acceleration event; and first and second biasing members disposed within the housing and biased toward each other to retain the mass member in the first position. In response to receipt by the housing of the acceleration event, the mass member is configured to overcome the biasing force of the first biasing member and move from the first position to the second position.

BACKGROUND

During manufacturing, storage or transit, many types of objects need tobe monitored due to the sensitivity or fragility of the objects. Forexample, some types of objects may be susceptible to damage if droppedor a significant impact is received. Thus, for quality control purposesand/or the general monitoring of transportation conditions, it isdesirable to determine and/or verify the environmental conditions towhich the object has been exposed.

BRIEF SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a device andtechnique for impact detection is disclosed. The impact indicatorincludes a housing; a mass member located within the housing where thehousing is configured to enable movement of the mass member from a firstposition to a second position within the housing in response to receiptby the housing of an acceleration event; and first and second biasingmembers disposed within the housing and biased toward each other toretain the mass member in the first position. In response to receipt bythe housing of the acceleration event, the mass member is configured toovercome the biasing force of the first biasing member and move from thefirst position to the second position.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, an impactindicator includes a housing; a mass member located within the housingwhere the housing comprises a plurality of sidewalls forming atranslation path for movement of the mass member within the housing; andat least one biasing member located in a first seated position relativeto the sidewalls to retain the mass member in a non-activated positionwithin the housing. In response to receipt by the housing of anacceleration event, the mass member is configured to move from thenon-activated position to an activated position within the housing, andthe biasing member moves from the first seated position to a secondseated position relative to the sidewalls to prevent the mass memberfrom reseating in the non-activated position.

According to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, an impactindicator includes a housing having a mass member located therein wherethe housing is configured to enable movement of the mass member inresponse to receipt by the housing of an acceleration event, and wherethe mass member is located in a non-activated position within thehousing prior to receipt of the acceleration event. In response toreceipt by the housing of a first acceleration event in a firstdirection, the mass member is configured to move from the non-activatedposition to a first activated position within the housing, and inresponse to receipt by the housing of a second acceleration event in asecond direction opposite the first direction, the mass member movesfrom the first activated position to a second activated position withinthe housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present application, theobjects and advantages thereof, reference is now made to the followingdescriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating respective front and rearviews of an embodiment of an impact indicator according to the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating respective front and rearviews of the impact indicator of FIGS. 1A and 1B in an activated stateaccording to the present disclosure;

FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a portion of theimpact indicator illustrated in FIG. 2B in accordance with the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a portion of theimpact indicator illustrated in FIG. 3A in accordance with the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4A is another diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a portion ofthe impact indicator of FIGS. 1A and 1B in an activated state accordingto the present disclosure;

FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a portion of theimpact indicator illustrated in FIG. 4A in accordance with the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of an impactindicator according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a portion of theimpact indicator illustrated in FIG. 5A in accordance with the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a portion of theimpact indicator illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B in an activated state inaccordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a portion of theimpact indicator illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B in another activatedstate in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a portion of theimpact indicator illustrated in FIG. 7A in accordance with the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a mass member of theimpact indictor illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B according to the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams illustrating respective non-activated andactivated states of the impact indicator illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1Bwith the mass member illustrated in FIG. 8 according to the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a mass member ofthe impact indictor illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B according to thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a mass memberfor an impact indicator according to the present disclosure; and

FIGS. 12A and 12B are diagrams illustrating respective non-activated andactivated states of an impact indicator with the mass member illustratedin FIG. 11 according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a device and technique forimpact detection and indication. According to one embodiment, an impactindicator includes a housing; a mass member located within the housingwhere the housing is configured to enable movement of the mass memberfrom a first position to a second position within the housing inresponse to receipt by the housing of an acceleration event; and firstand second spring members disposed within the housing and configured tobias the mass member to the first position. In response to receipt bythe housing of the acceleration event, the mass member is configured toovercome the biasing force of the first spring member and move from thefirst position to the second position, and wherein each of the first andsecond spring members extends across a medial portion of the massmember. Embodiments of the present disclosure enable impact and/oracceleration event detection while preventing or substantiallypreventing a re-setting of the state of the impact indicator 10 once apredetermined level or magnitude of impact has occurred. For example, insome embodiments, the mass member 30 of indicator 10 is configured tomove from a non-activated position to an activated position in responseto an acceleration event. If indicator 10 receives an acceleration eventthat may be performed in an attempt to re-set indicator 10 to thenon-activated state (e.g., a level or magnitude sufficient to cause areverse movement of mass member 30), the mass member 30 moves from oneactivated position to another activated position.

With reference now to the Figures and in particular with reference toFIGS. 1A and 1B, exemplary diagrams of an impact indicator 10 areprovided in which illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure maybe implemented. FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating a front view of impactindicator 10, and FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a rear view ofimpact indicator 10. In FIGS. 1A and 1B, indicator 10 is a portabledevice configured to be affixed to or disposed within a transportcontainer containing an object of which impact and/or accelerationevents associated therewith are to be monitored. Embodiments of impactindicator 10 monitor whether an object has been exposed to an impact orsome level of an acceleration event during manufacturing, storage and/ortransport of the object. In some embodiments, impact indicator 10 may beaffixed to a transport container using, for example, adhesive materials,permanent or temporary fasteners, or a variety of different types ofattachment devices. The transport container may include a container inwhich a monitored object is loosely placed or may comprise a containerof the monitored object itself. It should be appreciated that FIGS. 1Aand 1B are only exemplary and are not intended to assert or imply anylimitation with regard to the environments in which differentembodiments may be implemented.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, impact indicator 10comprises a housing 12 having a detection assembly 14 disposed therein.In the illustrated embodiment, detection assembly 14 is configured todetect and indicate impact or acceleration events in either of twodifferent directions, indicated by direction 16 or direction 18 relativeto indicator 10 in FIG. 1B (i.e., in direction 16/18 or at an anglethereto having a directional vector component in a correspondingdirection 16/18). However, it should be understood that assembly 14 maybe configured for detecting/indicating an impact event corresponding toa single direction (as will be described further below). Further, itshould be understood that additional detection assemblies 14 may beincluded in indicator 10 to provide impact detection/indication inadditional directions.

In some embodiments, housing 12 is configured and/or constructed from aclear or semi-opaque material having a masking label 20 located on afront side thereof or affixed thereto (FIG. 1A). In some embodiments,masking label 20 is configured having one or more apertures or “windows”22 for providing a visual indication of impact detection. For example,as will be described further below, in response to indicator 10 beingsubjected to or receiving some predetermined level of impact oracceleration event, detection assembly 14 causes a visual indication tobe displayed within or through one or more of windows 22 to provide avisual indication that the monitored object has or may have beensubjected to some level of impact. However, it should be understood thatother methods may be used to provide a visual indication that detectionassembly 14 has moved and/or been otherwise placed into an activatedstate indicating that indicator 10 has experienced a shock, impact oracceleration event. It should also be understood that housing 12 may beconfigured and/or manufactured from other materials (e.g., opaquematerials having one or more windows 22 formed therein).

Referring to FIG. 1B, detection assembly 14 is illustrated in anon-activated or initial pre-detection state (i.e., prior to beingsubjected to an acceleration event). In the illustrated embodiment,detection assembly 14 comprises a weight or mass member 30 and springmembers 40 and 42. Housing 12 comprises sidewalls 46 and 48 located onopposite sides of mass member 30. Sidewalls 46 and 48 form a translationpath to enable movement of mass member 30 within housing 12 in responseto housing 12 or indicator 10 being subjected to an acceleration event.For example, in FIG. 1B, mass member 30 is located in a non-activatedposition 50 within housing 12. Additionally, referring to FIG. 1A, amedial surface portion 52 of mass member 30 is located within and/or isotherwise visible within window 22.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1B, spring members 40 and 42 biasmass member 30 to the non-activated position 50 in the pre-detectionstate of indicator 10. For example, in the illustrated embodiment,spring members 40 and 42 comprises leaf springs 56 and 58, respectively;however, it should be understood that other types of biasing elementsmay be used. In FIG. 1B, sidewall 46 has formed therein recesses orseats 62 and 64 for holding respective ends 68 and 70 of leaf springs 56and 58. Sidewall 48 has formed therein recesses or seats 74 and 76 forholding respective ends 80 and 82 of leaf springs 56 and 58. Leafsprings 56 and 58 are formed having a length greater than a width ofmass member 30 (e.g., as measured in a direction from sidewall 46 tosidewall 48). The ends 68 and 80 of leaf spring 56 are located inrespective seats 62 and 74 such that leaf spring 56 is positioned in anorientation transverse to the movement path of mass member 30. The ends70 and 82 of leaf spring 58 are located in respective seats 64 and 76such that leaf spring 58 is positioned in an orientation transverse tothe movement path of mass member 30. For example, the translation pathformed by sidewalls 46 and 48 enables movement of mass member 30 in thedirections indicated by 16 and 18.

Ends 68 and 80 of leaf spring 56 are located in seats 62 and 80, andends 70 and 82 of leaf spring 58 are located in respective seats 64 and76, such that leaf springs 56 and 58 have convex surfaces facing eachother. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment, leaf springs 56 and 58 arebiased towards each other. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1B,leaf springs 56 and 58 each extend laterally across a medial portion ofmass member 30 between opposing arcuately formed walls 88 and 90 of massmember 30. Leaf springs 56 and 58 are biased toward each other andsupport mass 30 in the non-activated position 50 (e.g., leaf springs 56and 58 contact and support respective walls 88 and 90 of mass member 30to retain mass member 30 in the non-activated position 50). It should beunderstood that mass member 30 may be otherwise formed and/or springmembers 40 and 42 may be otherwise configured and/or positioned relativeto mass member 30 to retain and/or bias mass member 30 to thenon-activated position 50.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating respective front and rearviews of indicator 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B in an activatedstate. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B, indicator 10and/or housing 12 has been subjected to an impact and/or accelerationevent in a direction corresponding to direction 16 of a level and/ormagnitude to overcome the bias force of spring members 40 and 42 andthereby cause mass member 30 to move from non-activated position 50 toan activated position 96. In response to the acceleration event, leafspring 56 inverts and a convex portion thereof applies a biasing forceagainst wall 88 of mass member 30 to bias mass member 30 to theactivated position 96. Additionally, in response to the accelerationevent and movement of mass member 30 to the activated position 96, ends70 and 82 of leaf spring 58 are drawn out of respective seats 64 and 76.As best illustrated in FIG. 2A, in the activated position 96, adifferent portion of mass member 30 is located within and/or isotherwise visible in window 22 than when mass member 30 is in thenon-activated position 50. For example, in the non-activated position50, a medial portion of mass member 30 (e.g., medial surface portion 52(FIG. 1A)) is located within and/or is otherwise visible in window 22.However, in response to movement of mass member 30 to the activatedposition 96, a surface portion 98 located adjacent medial surfaceportion 52 is located within and/or is otherwise visible in window 22.As will be described further below, mass member 30 may contain, atdifferent locations thereon, different types and/or forms of indicia ona side thereof facing window 22 corresponding to the non-activated andactivated positions of mass member 30 within housing 12 to provide anindication as to whether indicator 10 has been subjected to a certainlevel or magnitude of acceleration event/impact.

FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a portion of FIG.2B of indicator 10, and FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating an enlargedview of a portion of FIG. 3A of indicator 10. Referring to FIGS. 2B, 3Aand 3B, as described above, in response to an acceleration event indirection 16 of a level and/or magnitude to overcome the bias force ofspring members 40 and 42, leaf spring 56 inverts and a convex portionthereof applies a biasing force against wall 88 of mass member 30 tobias mass member 30 to the activated position 96. Additionally, ends 70and 82 of leaf spring 58 are drawn out of respective seats 64 and 76. Asbest illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, sidewalls 46 and 48 have formedtherein indent regions 102 and 104, respectively, that are set backand/or offset from adjacent wall surfaces 106, 108, 110 and 112 ofsidewalls 46 and 48, respectively. Indent region 102 is located alongsidewall 46 between seats 62 and 64, and indent regions 104 is locatedalong sidewall 48 between seats 74 and 76. In response to movement ofmass member 30 to the activated position 96, ends 70 and 82 of leafspring 58 are drawn out of respective seats 64 and 76 and becomepositioned within respective indent regions 102 and 104. Indent regions102 and 104 prevent or substantially prevent ends 70 and 82 of leafspring 58 from returning to respective seats 64 and 76. Thus, ifindicator 10 is subjected to another acceleration event in a directionopposite direction 16 (e.g., direction 18) in an attempt to reset and/orre-position mass member 30 in the non-activated position 50 after beingin an activated state, indent regions 102 and 104 resist the return ofends 70 and 82 of leaf spring 58 to seats 64 and 76, thereby resultingin an additional bias force in the direction 16 that would need to beovercome in an opposite direction to effectuate movement of mass member30 toward the non-activated position 50.

FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a portion ofindicator 10 with mass member 30 located in another activated position116 (e.g., on a side of housing 12 opposite activated position 96), andFIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a portion of FIG.4A. For clarity, referring to FIG. 1B, mass member 30 is depictedtherein in non-activated position 50. Activated positions 96 and 116 arereferenced in FIG. 1B to illustrate locations within housing 12 wheremass member 30 will be located when in activated positions 96 and 116.Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, if indicator 10 has been subjected to anacceleration event in direction 16 that caused mass member 30 to move toactivated position 96 (FIG. 2B) and thereafter is subjected to anotheracceleration event in direction 18 (e.g., an unauthorized attempt toreseat mass member 30 in the non-activated position 50 or in response tosome other impact event) of a level and/or magnitude to overcome theforce(s) applied by leaf springs 56 and 58, leaf springs 56 and 58 bothcollapse or invert and mass member 30 moves from activated position 96,past non-activated position 50, to the activated position 116. Forexample, in response to the acceleration event in direction 18 of alevel and/or magnitude to overcome the force(s) applied by leaf springs56 and 58, leaf springs 56 and 58 both collapse or invert such thatconvex portions thereof apply a biasing force against wall 90 of massmember 30 to bias mass member 30 to activated position 116.Additionally, ends 68 and 80 of leaf spring 56 are drawn out ofrespective seats 62 and 74 and become positioned within respectiveindent regions 102 and 104. Thus, in response to movement of mass member30 from activated position 96 to activated position 116, leaf springs 56and 58 are biased in a same direction (e.g., toward wall 90 of massmember 30) and ends 68, 70, 80 and 82 of respective leaf springs 56 and58 are located within indent regions 102 and 104, respectively, toprevent or substantially prevent leaf springs 56 and 58 to returning toseat 62, 64, 74 or 76, thereby further preventing or substantiallypreventing mass member 30 from returning (in a maintained durationalstate) to non-activated position 50 after being in an activated state.

FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of indicator 10 inaccordance with the present disclosure, and FIG. 5B is a diagramillustrating an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 5A of indicator 10.In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B, sidewalls 46 and 48each have formed therein an additional spring seat 120 and 122,respectively. Seat 120 is located along sidewall 46 between seats 62 and64, and seat 122 is located along sidewall 48 between seats 74 and 76.Similar to seats 62, 64, 74 and 76, seats 120 and 122 comprise arecessed area along respective sidewalls 46 and 48 for receiving ends68/80 and 70/82 of respective leaf springs 56 and 58 in response toindicator 10 being subjected to an impact or acceleration event ofsufficient magnitude to cause movement of mass member 30 (e.g., asdescribed above in connection with FIGS. 2A, 3A, 3B, 4A and 4B). Forexample, FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating indicator 10 shown in FIGS. 5Aand 5B with mass member 30 located in the activated position 96. Becauseleaf springs 56 and 58 are configured having a length greater than alateral width of the translation path for movement of mass member 30,the ends of leaf springs 56 and 58 will seek the widest lateraldimension between sidewalls 46 and 48 to relieve tension forces therein.Thus, for example, in response to indicator 10 being subjected to anacceleration event in direction 16 of a magnitude sufficient to overcomethe bias forces of leaf springs 56 and 58, mas member 30 will move fromnon-activated position 50 toward activated position 96, leaf spring 56will collapse and/or invert and apply a biasing force toward wall 88 ofmass member 30, and ends 70 and 82 of leaf spring 58 will be drawn outof respective seats 64 and 76 and become located in respective seats 120and 122. Seats 120 and 122 102 and 104 prevent or substantially preventends 70 and 82 of leaf spring 58 from returning to respective seats 64and 76. Thus, if indicator 10 is subjected to another acceleration eventin a direction opposite direction 16 (e.g., direction 18) in an attemptto reset and/or re-position mass member 30 in the non-activated position50 after being in an activated state, indent regions 102 and 104 resistthe return of ends 70 and 82 of leaf spring 58 to seats 64 and 76,thereby resulting in an additional bias force in the direction 16 thatwould need to be overcome in an opposite direction to effectuatemovement of mass member 30 toward the non-activated position 50.

FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a portion ofindicator 10 of FIGS. 5A, 5B and 6 with mass member 30 located inactivated position 116, and FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating anenlarged view of a portion of FIG. 7A. If indicator 10 has beensubjected to an acceleration event in direction 16 that caused massmember 30 to move to activated position 96 (FIG. 6) and thereafter issubjected to another acceleration event in direction 18 (e.g., anunauthorized attempt to reseat mass member 30 in the non-activatedposition 50 or in response to some other impact event) of a level and/ormagnitude to overcome the force(s) applied by leaf springs 56 and 58,leaf springs 56 and 58 both collapse or invert and mass member 30 movesfrom activated position 96, past non-activated position 50, to theactivated position 116. For example, in response to the accelerationevent in direction 18 of a level and/or magnitude to overcome theforce(s) applied by leaf springs 56 and 58, leaf springs 56 and 58 bothcollapse or invert such that convex portions thereof apply a biasingforce against wall 90 of mass member 30 to bias mass member 30 toactivated position 116. Additionally, ends 68 and 80 of leaf spring 56are drawn out of respective seats 62 and 74 and become positioned withinrespective seats 120 and 122. Thus, in response to movement of massmember 30 from activated position 96 to activated position 116, leafsprings 56 and 58 are biased in a same direction (e.g., toward wall 90of mass member 30) and ends 68, 70, 80 and 82 of respective leaf springs56 and 58 are located within seats 120 and 122, respectively, to preventor substantially prevent leaf springs 56 and 58 to returning to seat 62,64, 74 or 76, thereby further preventing or substantially preventingmass member 30 from returning (in a maintained durational state) tonon-activated position 50 after being in an activated state.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of mass member 30 ofindicator 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.In some embodiments, mass member 30 functions as a display element toindicate the activation status of indicator 10. For example, in FIG. 8,a surface 130 of mass member 30 facing outwardly through window 22 (FIG.1A) is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, surface 130 comprises anon-activated surface portion 132 and activated surface portions 134 and136. Each of surface portions 132, 134 and 136 may comprise differentcolors, marking or other types of indicia that are visually exposedthrough window 22 in either a non-activated or activated state ofindicator 10. For example, non-activated surface portion 132 comprises asurface portion of mass member 30 that will be visible through window 22when mass member 30 is located in the non-activated position 50.Activated surface portion 136 comprises a surface portion of mass member30 that will be visible through window 22 when mass member 30 is locatedin the activated position 96 (e.g., FIGS. 2A and 2B), and activatedsurface portion 134 comprises a surface portion of mass member 30 thatwill be visible through window 22 when mass member 30 is located in theactivated position 116 (e.g., FIGS. 4A and 4B). In some embodiments,surface portions 132, 134 and 136 comprise color codes to visuallyindicate whether indicator 10 is in a non-activated or activated state(i.e., an activated state indicating that indicator 10 has beensubjected to some predetermined level or magnitude of impact oracceleration event). For example, surface portion 132 may comprise awhite coloring, and surface portions 134 and 136 may comprise a redcoloring. Thus, in a non-activated state, the white coloring of surfaceportion 132 would be visible within window 22. In an activated state(depending on the direction and/or quantity of acceleration eventsreceived), a red coloring corresponding to one of surface portions 134or 136 would be visible through window 22. In this embodiment, a singlewindow 22 is used as an example (e.g., a single window 22 placed in aposition corresponding to the non-activated position 50 for mass member30). However, it should be understood that different window quantitiesand/or placement may be used. For example, in some embodiments, twowindows may be utilized each corresponding to an activated position ofmass member 30 (e.g., one window located in a position corresponding tothe activated position 96 for mass member 30, and another window locatedin a position corresponding to the activated position 116 of mass member30). In this example, color coding of surface portions 134 and 136 maybe omitted (e.g., color coding surface portion 132 a red color or otherdesired color that would be visible through either the windowcorresponding to activated position 96 or the activated position 116).

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8, surface portions 132, 134and/or 136 may comprise a barcode or other type of indicia (e.g., anumeric code, an alphanumeric code, or other type of encoded indicia,etc.) to indicate the activation or impact status of indicator 10 (e.g.,a status identifier that may be encoded, machine-perceptible instead ofhuman-perceptible, etc.). For example, in the illustrated embodiment,surface portion 132 includes a barcode indicia 140 representing thecode/indicia of “SW087654321,” and surface portions 134 and 136 includebarcode indicia 142 and 144, respectively, representing the code/indiciaof “SW187654321.” In some embodiments, each of surface portions 132, 134and 136 may comprise the same coloring (or the omission of differentcolors thereon). The barcode indicia 140, 142 and 144 may includeinformation corresponding to manufacturer information, serial numberinformation and status information. For example, in the illustratedembodiment, the first two characters/digits may be used to identifymanufacturer or company information, the third character/digit may beused to indicate activation status, and the remaining characters/digitsmay be used to indicate serial number information. It should beunderstood that the various characters/digits of the barcode or othertype of encoded indicia may be varied to represent different types ofinformation. In some embodiments, the various characters/digits or othertype of encoded indicia may be human-imperceptible and/or undecipherableas to the type and/or specific detail of the information represented bythe encoded indicia. Thus, in this example, the third character/digit of“0” in indicia 140 indicates a non-activated status, while the thirdcharacter/digit of “1” in indicia 142 and 144 indicates an activatedstatus of indicator 10. FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams illustratingutilization of the barcode indicia 140, 142 and 144 for indicatingactivation status of indicator 10. Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9A, in anon-activated state (e.g., before being subjected to and/or experiencingsome predetermined level or magnitude of impact/acceleration), indicia140 is visible through window 22. Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9B, afterreceiving and/or being subject to some predetermined level or magnitudeof impact/acceleration, indicia 142 or 144 would be visible throughwindow 22. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9B, in response toreceipt of an acceleration event in the direction 16, for example,indicia 144 is visible within window 22.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of mass member 30of indicator 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In FIG. 10, surface 130 of mass member 30 facing outwardlythrough window 22 (FIG. 1A) is depicted. In the embodiment illustratedin FIG. 10, each of surface portions 132, 134 and 136 may comprisedifferent colors, markings or other types of indicia that are visuallyexposed through window 22 to provide an indication of a direction ofimpact/acceleration in an activated state of indicator 10. For example,surface portion 132 may comprise a white coloring, surface portion 134may comprise a yellow coloring, and surface portion 136 may comprise ared coloring. Thus, in a non-activated state, the white coloring ofsurface portion 132 would be visible within window 22. In an activatedstate, in response to receipt of some predetermined level or magnitudeof impact/acceleration in the direction 16, the red coloring of surfaceportion 136 would be visible through window 22. In an activated state,in response to receipt of some predetermined level or magnitude ofimpact/acceleration in the direction 18, the yellow coloring of surfaceportion 134 would be visible through window 22. Thus, in the illustratedembodiment, mass member 30 functions as a display element for indicatingan activation state of indicator 10 and/or a direction of impact ifreceived. Therefore, indicator 10 may be configured to indicate animpact event as well as a direction of that impact event.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, surface portions 132, 134 and 136 may alsoinclude barcode or other type of encoded indicia for indicating adirection of an impact event (e.g., a status and/or directionalidentifier that may be encoded, machine-perceptible/machine-decipherableinstead of human-perceptible/human-decipherable, etc.). For example, inthe illustrated embodiment, surface portion 132 includes a barcodeindicia 150 representing the code/indicia of “SW087654321,” surfaceportion 134 includes barcode indicia 152 representing the code/indiciaof “SW287654321,” and surface portion 136 includes barcode indicia 154representing the code/indicia of “SW187654321.” In some embodiments,each of surface portions 132, 134 and 136 may comprise the same coloring(or the omission of different colors thereon). In this embodiment, thethird character/digit is used to indicate a status of activation and, ifactivated, a direction of the received impact. For example, the thirdcharacter/digit of “0” in indicia 150 indicates a non-activated status.If indicia 154 is visible in window 22, the third character/digit of “1”in indicia 154 indicates an activated status of indicator 10 and thatindicator 10 received an acceleration event in the direction 16. Ifindicia 152 is visible in window 22, the third character/digit of “2” inindicia 152 indicates an activated status of indicator 10 and thatindicator 10 received an acceleration event in the direction 18. Thus,indicator 10 may be configured to indicate both an impact event statusand a directional indication of a received impact event. It should beunderstood that instead of barcode indicia, an alphabetic, numeric,alphanumeric, or other type of enciphered and/or encoded indicia may beused to indicate impact event status and/or a directional indication ofa received impact event such that, although the indicia ishuman-perceptible, the indicia may not be readily interpretable and/ordecipherable without a key or other deciphering information. Forexample, a code indicia such as “SW087654321” in non-barcode form may beused.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of mass member 30of indicator 10 in accordance with the present disclosure, and FIGS. 12Aand 12B are diagrams illustrating another embodiment of indicator 10with two status windows 22 (identified as window 22 ₁ and 22 ₂)utilizing the embodiment of mass member 30 illustrated in FIG. 11. InFIG. 11, surface 130 of mass member 30 comprises non-activated surfaceportion 160 and 162 and an activated surface portions 164. Surfaceportions 160, 162 and 164 may comprise different colors, marking orother types of indicia that are visually exposed through windows 22 ₁and/or 22 ₂ in either a non-activated or activated state of indicator10. For example, activated surface portion 164 comprises a surfaceportion of mass member 30 that will be visible through window 22 ₁ whenmass member 30 is located in the activated position 96 (FIGS. 2B and11B) and visible through window 22 ₂ when mass member 30 is located inthe activated position 116 (FIG. 4A). In a non-activated state (e.g.,non-activated position 50 (FIG. 1B)), surface portions 160 and 162 arevisible through respective windows 22 ₁ and 22 ₂. Thus, referring toFIG. 12A, before activation or before being subjected to somepredetermined level or magnitude of acceleration event, surface portions160 and 162 are visible through respective windows 22 ₁ and 22 ₂. Inresponse to receiving some predetermined level or magnitude ofacceleration event, movement of mass member 30 causes surface portion162 to become visible through one of windows 22 ₁ or 22 ₂ (depending onthe direction of impact event). In FIG. 12B, for example, in response toan impact event in the direction 16, surface portion 164 becomes visiblethrough window 22 ₁.

Thus, indicator 10 may be configured in various manners to providedifferent types of visual indications of activation status. For example,in some embodiments, a color-based display element or display elementhaving barcode or other type of indicia may be provided separate andapart from mass member 30 to provide a visual indication of indicator 10status via window(s) 22. For example, in some embodiments, spring member40 and/or 42 may be coupled to another element other than mass member 30that slides, moves and/or otherwise becomes located within window(s) 22in response to activation of indicator 10. In another embodiment, springmember 40 and/or 42 may be further coupled to a latch mechanism,pivoting member/element or other type of structure that slides,translates or pivots into an area of window(s) 22 in response toactivation of indicator 10. In yet other embodiments, housing 12 mayinclude one or more indicator/display elements located proximate toactivated positions 96 and 116 that slide, translate or pivot into anarea of window(s) 22 in response to mass member 30 moving intorespective activated positions 96 and 116. Indicator 10 may also includea switch or other type of electronic module that causes a visualindication within window(s) 22 in response to indicator 10 activation.For example, in some embodiments, indicator 10 may include a switch,power source and a liquid crystal display (LCD) or other type ofelectronic display element positioned within window(s) 22 or otherwiselocated on housing 12 to display a color, barcode or other type ofindicia or code indicating an impact detection status, direction ofimpact and/or other type(s) of information (e.g., manufacturer, serialnumber, etc.). As an example, indicator 10 may include a switch elementlocated near or at activation position 96 and/or a switch elementlocated near or at activation position 116 that, in response to contactof either switch element by mass member 30, a color, barcode or othertype of indicia or code is changed or displayed on the display unit. Inthis example, using a barcode indicia for example, the display unit mayinitially display one barcode indicia and electronically change thebarcode indicia in response to detecting an impact (including differentbarcodes based on direction of impact). Thus, it should be understoodthat a variety of structure and/or methods may be used to indicateimpact detection and/or impact direction.

In the embodiment illustrated, for example, in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B,two spring members 40- and 42 are used to retain (at least initially)mass member 30 in a non-activated state or position 50 and to preventmass member 30 from re-seating in non-activated position 50 after animpact event has caused activation of indicator 10. However, it shouldbe understood that a quantity of spring members may be greater or fewer.For example, in some embodiments, indicator 10 may be configured forunidirectional mass member 30 movement (e.g., in direction 16). In thisembodiment, for example, housing 12 may be configured with an additionalwall or increased length of mass member 30 such that mass member 30 onlymoves from non-activated position 50 to activated position 96. In thisembodiment, for example, spring member 40 may be omitted while springmember 42 retains the mass member 30 in the non-activated position. Inresponse to an acceleration event in direction 16 of sufficientmagnitude to overcome the retention force of spring member 42, massmember 30 moves to the activated position 96, and ends 70 and 82 of leafspring 58 are drawn out of seats 64 and 76 and into indent regions 102and 104 (or seats 120 and 122) to thereafter retain mass member 30 inthe activated position 96. It should also be understood that the shapeand/or configuration of mass member 30 may vary. For example, instead ofwalls 88 and 90, mass member 30 may comprise posts or other types ofsurface features to provide a bearing surface against which one or moreof spring members 40 and 42 may apply a force.

In some embodiments, spring member 40 and/or 42 is selected and/orotherwise configured to bias and/or otherwise retain mass member 30 incertain positions (e.g., non-activated position 50 and/or activatedpositions 96/116) until and/or unless a predetermined level or magnitudeof impact/acceleration is experienced by indicator 10. For example,impact indicator 10 may be configured for various levels of impact oracceleration activation by setting a particular weight of mass member30, selecting/configuring a particular thickness and/or material ofspring members 40/42, etc. For example, in some embodiments, springmembers 40/42 may be configured from a polymer material (e.g., such as aDuralar® material) that may maintain a substantially constant springtension force over a desired temperature spectrum, thereby alleviatingan inadvertent activation of indicator 10 that may otherwise result froma temperature change.

Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure enable impact and/oracceleration event detection while preventing or substantiallypreventing a re-setting of the state of the impact indicator 10 once apredetermined level or magnitude of impact has occurred. For example, insome embodiments, the mass member 30 of indicator 10 is configured tomove from a non-activated position to an activated position in responseto an acceleration event. If indicator 10 receives an acceleration eventthat may be performed in an attempt to re-set indicator 10 to thenon-activated state (e.g., a level or magnitude sufficient to cause areverse movement of mass member 30), the mass member 30 moves from oneactivated position to another activated position. Further, springmembers 40 and/or 42 and/or housing 12 are configured prevent orsubstantially prevent re-seating of the mass member 30 in thenon-activated state or position once indicator 10 has been activated.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the disclosure and the practical application, and toenable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosurefor various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. An impact indicator, comprising: a housing; amass member located within the housing, the housing configured to enablemovement of the mass member from a first position to a second positionwithin the housing in response to receipt by the housing of anacceleration event; and first and second biasing members disposed withinthe housing and biased toward each other to retain the mass member inthe first position, and wherein, in response to receipt by the housingof the acceleration event, the mass member is configured to overcome thebiasing force of the first biasing member and move from the firstposition to the second position, the mass member retained in the secondposition by at least one of the first and second biasing members toprovide an indication of receipt of the acceleration event.
 2. Theimpact indicator of claim 1, wherein, in response to receipt by thehousing of the acceleration event, the first and second biasing membersare biased in a same direction to bear upon the mass member to retainthe mass member in the second position.
 3. The impact indicator of claim2, wherein, in response to receipt by the housing of anotheracceleration event that causes the mass member to overcome the bias ofthe first and second biasing members, the first and second biasingmembers are configured to cause the mass member to move from the secondposition, past the first position, to a third position.
 4. The impactindicator of claim 3, wherein the housing comprises a window located ineach of the second and third positions to enable a visual indication ofthe mass member located in either the second or third position.
 5. Theimpact indicator of claim 3, wherein the first and second biasingmembers are biased in a same direction to bear upon the mass member toretain the mass member in the third position.
 6. The impact indicator ofclaim 1, wherein the housing comprises a window to enable a visualindication of movement of the mass member indicating that the housinghas experienced the acceleration event.
 7. The impact indicator of claim1, wherein the first and second biasing members each comprises a leafspring member having a length greater than a width of the mass memberand disposed transversely to a direction of movement of the mass member.8. The impact indicator of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises aplurality of sidewalls forming a translation path for movement of themass member from the first position to the second position, and whereineach end of the first and second biasing members is disposed in arespective seat located in the sidewalls when the mass member is in thefirst position.
 9. The impact indicator of claim 8, wherein, in responseto receipt by the housing of the acceleration event, the second biasingmember is drawn out of its respective seats in the sidewalls and isprevented from returning to its seats in the sidewalls by indents formedin the sidewalls.
 10. An impact indicator, comprising: a housing; a massmember located within the housing, the housing configured to enablemovement of the mass member from a non-activated position within thehousing to an activated position within the housing in response toreceipt by the housing of an acceleration event; and at least onebiasing member configured to retain the mass member in the non-activatedposition prior to receipt of the acceleration event, and wherein, inresponse to receipt by the housing of the acceleration event, the massmember is configured to overcome a biasing force of the biasing memberand move from the non-activated position to the activated position, andwherein the biasing member is configured to apply another biasing forceto the mass member to prevent the mass member from reseating in thenon-activated position.
 11. The impact indicator of claim 10, whereinthe biasing member is configured to be biased in a first directionrelative to the mass member in the non-activated position and biased ina second direction relative to the mass member different than the firstdirection after receipt of the acceleration event.
 12. The impactindicator of claim 11, wherein the biasing member comprises a leafspring having ends located in a first position relative to the housingin the non-activated position and moving to a second position relativeto the housing in response to the mass member moving to the activatedposition.